A free and cross-platform 2D side-scrolling shoot 'em up space game, where the player guides Chris Bainfield and his friend Sid Wilson in 2579, in their quest to liberate the galaxy from the clutches of WEAPCO, an intergalactic weapons corporation. Along the way, they will encounter new enemies, make new allies and assist local rebels in strikes against the evil corporation. The game includes 26 missions in 4 solar systems, primary and secondary weapons, several levels of difficulty, 13 soundtracks, ...

Description [en]

In the year 2579, the intergalactic weapons corporation, WEAPCO, has dominated the galaxy. Guide Chris Bainfield and his friend Sid Wilson on their quest to liberate the galaxy from the clutches of WEAPCO. Along the way, you will encounter new foes, make new allies, and assist local rebels in strikes against the evil corporation.

Originally developed by Parallel Realities in 2003, Project: Starfighter is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up space game, released under the GNU GPL. Consisting of 26 engaging levels spanning four planetary systems, this classic game will entertain for hours.

Unfortunately, the original Project: Starfighter used images, sound effects, and music which were not properly licensed. As such, this version of the game replaces those art assets with libre art assets. But that's not all; in addition to being legally distributable, this version of Project: Starfighter has several other improvements over the original: (see "Features")

Wikipedia:

Project: Starfighter is an Open Source 2D shoot 'em up written by Parallel Realities (Stephen J Sweeney). The engine is under the GNU General Public License. Originally, the multimedia of the game was proprietary, but it was replaced by new media under various libre art licenses in 2012 and 2015. It is a mission and objective based game also featuring an intricate plot.

Gameplay

The game is non linear allowing the player to choose the order of the missions they will undertake in the system. The player's craft can also be upgraded with a choice of secondary weapons and ability to powerup the main plasma cannons.

It also features computer controlled wingmates who assist players in battle. If the wingmate's craft is destroyed the wingmate will eject and be available in the next mission. Some missions however stipulate that the wingmate must not be allowed to be killed.

Plot

In the future, a weapons corporation known as WEAPCO has dominated the known galaxy with their AI driven starfighters. Under the rule of WEAPCO people begin to suffer and perish. A young rebel pilot called Chris Bainfield makes it his duty to free his home star system, known as Spirit, of WEAPCO's control. He hires a mercenary known as Krass Tyler to steal a Firefly starfighter for him. Along with his close friend, Sid Wilson, Chris begins his mission to fight in to Sol and take down the WEAPCO empire. After preventing a WEAPCO frigate from causing Spirit to supernova he begins the liberation of a number of slaves, including Phoebe Lexx who joins him in his quest. Shortly thereafter the pair are lured into a trap set by Kline Kethlan, the commander of WEAPCO's forces. Bainfield dog fights Kethlan who escapes just before Bainfield can destroy his starfighter.

Resuming their journey towards Sol, the three allies rescue Phoebe's twin sister, Ursula, before they are attacked by Krass Tyler. The mercenary informs them that it is nothing personal and that he has been paid off by WEAPCO to eliminate the team. Eventually the group arrive at Earth where they battle for control of the planet.

With WEAPCO overthrown Bainfield chases Kethlan to Venus where he begs the commander to surrender, so that he does not have to kill him. Kethlan refuses and informs Bainfield that he would prefer to die a warrior's death. The two dog fight for one last time, with Bainfield emerging as the victor.

☑ Difficulty levels: Choose from several difficulty levels ranging from easy to virtually impossible. Want the original experience? A difficulty level called "Classic" is also available, which imitates the experience of the original Project: Starfighter.

☑ Better camera handling: The camera no longer exerts a mysterious force which slows down your movement, and it no longer boxes you into an arbitrary rectangle in autoscrolling levels. Additionally, if you're not moving, it now centers on your ship (except in Classic difficulty).

☑ Improved balance: Certain changes have been made to balance the weapons much better (except in Classic difficulty). Most significantly, the overpowered Charge Cannon has been slightly nerfed and made harder to use, making it less of a must-have than it previously was (but still very powerful).

☑ Defined character traits:The characters in the original Project: Starfighter were pretty much perpetually sullen and angry. Now, each character has a defined personality which is expressed both in the things they say and in their character portraits.

☑ Improved code quality: Several instances of magic numbers and other bad programming practices have been removed, making the code much easier to read. It is also in the process of being made more portable, in particular supporting multiple resolutions.

☑ A myriad of bug fixes. Some examples include wrap-around bugs that occurred with ammunition, shop bugs which caused the sale prices of some items to be higher than their buy prices, and bugs which caused cheats to render certain missions unwinnable.